Scotland showed from the first whistle they were no pushovers and although Ireland came back from 17-7 down, RBS 6 Nations Man of the Match Parks showed nerves of steel in the closing stages to help the visitors avoid the wooden spoon.

The result not only denied Ireland their fifth Triple Crown in seven years but secured France the Six Nations Championship for the first time in three years.

All the talk in the build-up to the match centred around Ireland's last RBS 6 Nations match at Croke Park - the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association - where they have enjoyed a period of unparalleled success in their recent history.

But Scotland have a history of upsetting Irish parties and, with no Six Nations wins to their name under new boss Andy Robinson, came out fighting.

They took the lead after six minutes when referee Jonathan Kaplan pinged Lions skipper Paul O'Connell for not rolling away at a ruck.

Fly-half Parks slotted the kick from in front of the posts but it seemed to be business as usual when Ireland superbly fashioned the game's opening try five minutes later.

Jonathan Sexton demonstrated the qualities that have relegated Ireland record points scorer Ronan O'Gara to the bench as he delayed his pass to perfection for the onrushing Brian O'Driscoll to touch down his 39th international try.

There was more than a hint of a forward pass by Sexton but it did not stop the fly-half slotting the conversion.

But far from ushering in a period of Irish dominance, the visitors hit back with their own well-worked try on 14 minutes.

Centre Graeme Morrison superbly fed Johnnie Beattie and the Glasgow No.8 fended off the challenges from Geordan Murphy and Paul O'Connell to touch down in the corner. The conversion drifted wide from Parks.

Irish boss Declan Kidney then had to shuffle his pack midway through the first half as Murphy made way for Lions full-back Rob Kearney.

After Sexton missed a long-range penalty, opposite number Parks showed him how to do it with a kick right in front of the posts as lock Donncha O'Callaghan failed to roll away from a tackle.

But Parks was not done there as he capitalised on good work by the Scottish forwards who rumbled their way downfield for the Glasgow fly-half to strike a textbook drop goal in the last play of the half.

Scotland's 14-7 halftime advantage should have been reduced immediately after the break as Sexton, not for the first time in the Championship, missed a relatively straightforward penalty.

In a tight game, kicks looked like proving the difference and Parks put Scotland a score clear with another well-struck penalty on 46 minutes.

At this point Kidney sent for O'Gara, who had kicked nine from nine in this year's Championship, but not before an Irish rolling maul was illegally brought down inside the Scottish 22.

Confusion reigned as Sexton did not appear to want to give way but eventually the Leinster man steadied his nerves to slot the penalty to make the score 10-17 in his last act.

Despite looking more threatening in attack, Ireland were being handicapped by their misfiring set-piece with Parks falling just short with a penalty after the hosts lost possession at a lineout.

Ireland though would eventually make their attacking prowess count as the ball was spread down the line where Bowe would seize on full-back Hugo Southwell's indecision to stretch out and touch down.

The conversion was as hard as they come bang on the right hand touchline but O'Gara nonchalantly dissected the posts to bring the scores level to set up a tantalising finale.

With seven minutes to go Parks missed with a drop goal knowing a penalty was coming which he slotted only for O'Gara to immediately reply to make it 20-20.

But there was still time for yet another twist in the tail. Parks' crossfield kick was caught by Kearney but he was immediately set upon by Simon Danielli who forced a penalty.

The majority inside Croke Park abandoned their traditional respect for the kicker's preparations but it made no difference to Parks who knew as he soon as he made connection on the left-hand touchline that he had won an historic game for Scotland.

Unlike in their agonising defeat to Wales earlier in the Championship, Robinson's men made no mistake in securing possession and putting the ball out of play to give the visitors their first victory in Dublin in 12 years.